Jul. 10, 2015

'Biological Aging,' Debunking Signs of Cometary Life, Triceratops Kin

Feel young for your age? Or like a 60-year-old in a 38-year-old’s body? People’s bodies age at remarkably different rates, according to a study appearing this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Measuring biomarkers like blood pressure and cholesterol levels, the researchers estimated each participant’s “biological” age. Though all participants were 38 years-old, their body conditions ranged from that of an average 30-year-old...all the way to 61.

But is measuring biological age a good idea? Will insurance companies discriminate against the biologically elderly? Study author Daniel Belsky, an aging researcher at the Duke University School of Medicine, walks us through the good and the bad.

And Rachel Feltman of The Washington Post shares a few selected short subjects from this week’s science news, including a false report of signs of life on Comet 67P and a fossil find that might be the missing link for dinosaur nose horns.